Pulley hanger



June 4, 1963 J. A. ANDERSON PULLEY HANGER INVENTOR. Wimp 3 Sheets-Sheetl Filed Aug 7, 1961 June 4, 1963 J. A. ANDERSON 3,092,172

PULLEY HANGER INVENTOR. W

June 4, 1963 J. A. ANDERSON PULLEY HANGER Filed Aug. 7, 1961 3Sheets-Sheet 5 703 'IIIIIIIIIIII Ill/I12 INVENTOR.

M4 M7 BY Uted States Ohio Filed Aug. 7, 1961, Ser. No. 129,635 6 Claims.((11. 160-133) This invention relates to a pulley hanger and is moreparticularly directed to a hanger for use with a slat blind porch shade,although certain of the novel features are not necessarily limited intheir application to slat porch shades.

The slat blinds with which the invention is principally employed are ofthe type having a number of vertically aligned horizontal slatsinterwoven and connected together by string. A head bar is secured tothe uppermost slat and provides a hanging support for the blind. Asingle pulley mounted at one end of the head board and a double pulleyhaving a cord lock dog mounted in the other end of the head barcooperate with a draw cord which passes through both pulleys and aroundthe complete blind at both sides of the blind. Pulling on the cordshortens the loops around the blind at each side and causes the blind toroll up from its bottom edge.

The hanger pulley of the present invention combines the functions of apulley to be mounted to the head bar and a hanger for the completeassembly. As such it is desirable that the hanger pulley be easy toapply to the slat blind and easy to accommodate to the supportingstructure to which the slat blind is to be mounted. Further, it isdesirable that the device be provided with means for preventing, insofaras possible, the fouling of the draw cord. Still further, the deviceshould be of ruggedest construction with its parts so related andoriented as to assure regularity of the cord drawing and lockingfunctions to the end that minimal ingenuity is required to adjust theblind to the proper level.

An important feature of the invention resides in the ease with which thehanger pulley can be applied to a slat blind with provision for widevariation in the longitudinal position along the head bar to which thehanger pulley is ailixed. More specifically, it has been an objective ofthe invention to provide for the securing of the pulley to the slatblind head bar by sliding an upwardly projecting plate between the headbar and an overlying slat and wrapping a free end of the draw cord aboutthat portion of the plate which projects above the head bar.

Another objective of the invention has been to provide a slot of aparticular shape formed in opposed side edges of the upwardly projectingplate, the shape of the slot being such as to facilitate the applicationof the cord to the plate and to impede its inadvertent removal. Theinvention provides a cooperative relation between the slots and theconfiguration of the hanger which locks the hanger against twisting ortoeing in when tension is applied to the cord.

Another feature of the invention resides in the antifouling guide meansparticularly associated with the double pulley hanger, the guide meanspreventing the draw cord from twisting or riding over onto the wrongpulley groove, while at the same time permitting ease of assembly. Theguide means are especially adapted for guiding the draw cord from bothsides of the pulley so that protection against fouling is providedduring both raising and lowering of the shade.

Another objective of the invention has been to provide a guide ramp forthat loop of the draw cord which is manually operated to raise and lowerthe blind, the ramp reducing the fraying of the cord and providingassurance against the inadvertent release of the engagement of the lockdog with the cord.

?atented June 4, 1963 ice Another feature of the invention resides inthe manner in which the lock dog is mounted in its supporting structureas well as the cooperating shape of the supporting structure tofacilitate assembly.

These and other features of the invention will become more readilyapparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunctionwith the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is an elevational View of a slat blind to which pulley hangers ofthe present invention are mounted;

FIG. 2 is a front elevational view of a single pulley hanger;

FIG. 3 is a front elevational view of a double pulley hanger;

FIG. 4 is a side elevational view of a single pulley hanger;

FIG. 5 is a side elevational View of a double pulley hanger;

FIG. 6 is a top plan view partly in section taken along lines 6-6 ofFIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a cross sectional View taken along lines 77 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 8 is a cross sectional view taken along lines 88 of FIG. 5;

FIG. 9 is a cross sectional view taken along lines 9-9 of FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a cross sectional view taken along lines 10-- 10 of FIG. 8;and

FIG. 11 is a cross sectional view taken along line 11 11 of FIG. 8.

Referring to FIG. 1, a slat blind it is shown as formed with a pluralityof slats 11 which are in vertical alignment and are interconnectedtogether by being woven with respect to strings 1-2. The uppermost slat13 is folded over on the adjacent slat 14 (FIGS. 4-6) the two slatsbeing secured to a head bar 15 which forms the top of the slat blind.The slats are secured to the head bar by wire staples 16 as illustratedin FIG. 6. At the left side of the slat blind is a single pulley hanger20 and at the right side of the slat blind is a double pulley hanger 21.A cord 22 passes over the pulleys and is secured at its ends in such amanner as to form a loop 23 around the left side of the slat blind, aloop 24 around the right side of the slat blind and a loop 25 whichhangs free for the manual raising and lowering of the blind. The freeends 26 and 27 of the cord 22 are knotted as at 28 and are wrapped aboutthe respective projecting ends of the pulley hangers 2i and 21 in amanner to be described below in order to secure the pulley hangers tothe slat blind. The cord is oriented with respect to the slat blind andthe respective hanger pulleys as follows:

Beginning with the fixed end 27 at the right side of the blind, the cordpasses behind the slat blind to the bottom thereof and upwardly in frontof the slat blind to form the loop 24. The cord passes over the outergroove of the double pulley and back over the inner groove to drawingloop 25. The cord then passes over the pulley on the hanger 29,downwardly in front of the slat blind and up in back of the slat blindto form the loop 23, the remaining end '26 being fixed to the hanger 20.

The hanger pulley 20 has a hanger plate 30 (FIGS. 2, 4, 6 and 7) whichhas a key hole aperture 31 adapted to admit a headed fastener such as ascrew or nail through an enlarged portion 32 and to secure the hangerplate to the fastener in the narrower portion 33. The hanger plate 30has notches 34 in each vertical edge thereof, the notches beingpositioned immediately adjacent the upper surface of the head bar whenthe hanger is in its operative position. The construction of the notchis such that a fiat edge 35 lies parallel to the surface'of the headboard, the other side of the slot being formed by a V-shaped surface 36.The function of the notches 34 is to receive the end 26 of the cord asit is wrapped about the hanger in order to secure the hanger to the headboard. The

' shape of the notches facilitates the introduction of the cord into thenotches but serves'to prevent the inadvertent removal of the cord fromthe notches during operation; The lower portion of the hanger plate ishorizontally embossed or recessed as at 40 to provide a shoulder 41against which the headbar bears. A second shoulder 42 of smallerdimension than the shoulder 41 is also formed by the recess 40 toreceive a pulley frame 43. Because the shoulder 42 is of smallerdimension than shoulder 41 the inner leg 44 of the'pulley frame is, whenin position, substantially flush with the surface of the hanger plate30. The pulley frame 43 is U-shaped and has the leg 44 referred to aboveand a leg 45. The legs 44 and 45 are apertured as at 46 and 47 and thelower end of the hanger plate 30 is apertured as at 48. A rivet 49forming the axle shaft of a single grooved sheave or pulley 50 passesthrough the apertures 46, 47 and 48, through a bore 51 through thecenter of the pulley to secure the pulley frame to the hanger plate 30,and to form an axle about which the sheave 50 may rotate. It can be seenfrom FIG. 4 that the axle shaft 49 locks all but pivotal movement of thepulley support 43 with respect to the hanger plate 30 and rotarymovement is blocked by the engagement of the shoulder 42 with thecorresponding surface on leg 44- of the pulley frame.

a When in position on the porch shade the upper edge of leg 45 engagesthe headbar 15 and confines the cord on the sheave 50. Prior to fixingthe pulley hanger on the headbar, however, the cord can merely be laidon the sheave 50 rather than threaded into position.

The double pulley hanger is similarly constructed. As shown in FIG. 3,the double pulley hanger 21 has a hanger plate 60 provided with akeyhole aperture 31 having an enlarged portion 3-2 and narrow portion33. Notches 34 are provided in the side edges, the notches 34 beingformed by a straight edge 35 and a V-shaped projection 36 all asdescribed above in connection with the single pulley 20..

As best shown in'FlG. 5, the hanger plate 60 has a transverse embossmentor recess 61 providing a shoulder 62 which bears against the headbar 15and provides, along with the similar construction of the single pulley,a support for the slat blind. The recess 61 also provides a shoulder 63of smaller dimension than the shoulder 62 which is in engagement with asimilarly shouldered portion 64 on a leg 65 of a generally U-shapedpulley frame 66. The hanger plate 60 has a lower end portion 67 whichextends along almost the complete length of the leg 65 thereby providinga double thickness of material which bolsters the pulley againsttwisting and bending during its use.

A double grooved sheave 70 is mounted on an axle shaft -71 (FIG. 9)constructed by a shouldered semitubular rivet passing through apertures72 and 73 in the legs of the pulley frame and an aperture 74 in thelower end of the hanger plate 60. Both types of pulleys, of course, canbe constructed of a single piece for the hanger plate and pulley frame.However, the illustrated two piece construction is preferred because ofthe extra strength provided by the double thickness at the joint betweenthe two pieces. As in the case of the single pulley hanger the pulleyframe is tightly secured to the hanger plate 60 by the axle shaft 71 andthe cooperation of the engaged shoulders 63 and 64 of the hanger plateand pulley frame respectively. 7

Below the apertures 72, 73 and 74 are similar apertures 75, 76 in thepulley frame and 77 in the hanger plate which receive a lock dog 80having cars 81 and 82 projecting therefrom. The ear 81 projects beyondthe surface of the pulley frame so that it is engageable by theassembler to facilitate in the assembly of the device as describedbelow.

' As best illustrated in FIGS. 8 and 10, the pulley hanger plate has avertical flange 85 which extends between the two legs of the pulleyframe and provides a surface against which the lock dog 80 can force thecord portions of loop to lock the cord in position thus fixing theelevated portion of the blind. A tab 86 on a leg 87 of the pulley frameoverlies the edge 88 of the tab 86 where it butts against the leg 87 tosecure the flange against bending outwardly under the repeated stress ofthe locking of the cord against its surface. The flange 85 has a dimple89 which prevents the lock dog 80 from swinging about its pivotal axisto an inoperative position. This dimple assumes its greatest importanceduring the assembly of the device to be described below.

* To facilitate the regularity and surety of operation, the

lower edge of the flange is depressed inwardly as at' ramp 90 to helpcenter the cord 22 and push it against the lock dog 80. p

The bight portion 91 of the pulley frame is slotted as at 92 and 93 toprovide apertures through which the respective cord portions of the loop25 passes. The two slots leave a divider 94 which, together with guidemeans which will be described below, prevent the undesirable twisting ofthe cord on the double groovedsheave. The portion of slot 92 nearest thelocking dog is of a decreased width. The decrease in width tends toretard the movement of the outer cord portion passing therethrough asboth cord portions are moved toward the locking dog. This retardationovercomes the natural tendency of the outer cord portion to lead, andthereby effects a more uniform or simultaneous engagement of the twocord portions with the locking dog. Further, the shape of groove 02guides the cord toward the center of the area of engagement with the dogwhere the dog more eflectively can perform its locking'function.

The guide means for the cord is best illustrated in FIG. 5. The outsideleg 87 of the pulley frame has an upwardly projecting flange which isoffset inwardly so that the lower portion of the flange is in engagementwith the rim 101 of the sheave 70. The flange 100 serves in part tocenter the sheave but more particularly to prevent the cord 22 fromriding over the rim and off the sheave. The recess or embossment 61described above performs the same function for the other side of 7 thesheave.

. A second flange 102 projects inwardly and upwardly from outside leg 87of the pulley frame. That flange serves to confine an inside run 103 ofthe cord to the inside groove 104 and cooperates with the embossment 61to keep the run from riding over the rim of the sheave. A lower portion105 of the flange 102 which presents a surface which is co-planar withthe surface of the flange 100 and provides a guide surface for anoutside run 106 of the cord 22. That flange portion 105 cooperates witha guide flange 107 projecting from the leg 65 of the pulley frame toguide the outside run of the cord and to prevent it from riding over therim of its groove and twisting with respect to the inside run. Theflange 107 is integral with a bracket 108 having an inclined uppersurface 109. The inclined surface together with the pressure exerted onthe outside run .106 by the weight of the slat blind roll always urgesthe outside run 106 toward its proper outside groove and augments theguide flanges described above in maintaining the respective cord runshaving a projecting flange 111 which is formed with a saw tooth edge 112as shown in hidden lines in FIG. 9. The saw tooth edge bites into thefibers of the cord so that during locking slippage of the cord in acounterclockwise direction as viewed in FIG. 8 is prevented. Thedimensions of the lock dog should be related to the pulley frame so thatin locking the cord is forced against the inner surface of the flange 85and thereby clamped between that surface and the teeth of the lock dog.

The lock dog has a rearwardly projecting abutment 113 which isengageable with a shoulder 114 formed by the guide flange portion 105.The engagement of the abutment 113 with the shoulder 114 limits theclockwise pivoting of the lock dog (as viewed in FIG. 8) so that theteeth of the lock dog will always overlie a portion of the slots 92 and93 and be engageable with the cord.

In assembling the invention, particularly the double grooved pulley 21(similar considerations obtain for the single grooved pulley), the partsare first formed as shown in the drawings, that is, as they will be intheir assembled condition, except for the pulley frame. In the formationof the pulley frame 66 the walls 65 and 87 have about a 12 spread withrespect to each other. That spread, first, permits the unit to bestripped from the stamping die. Second, in assembly it permits thehanger plate with its flange 85 to be inserted into the assembledposition with respect to the pulley frame. Further, it permits the frameto receive the lock dog with its projecting ears 81 and 82 projectingthrough their associated apertures. When the hanger plate, pulley frameand lock dog are assembled, then the pulley and its axle shaft formingrivet 71 are properly positioned with the rivet 71 passing through theapertures 72, 73 and 74. The walls 65 and 87 are forced together intosubstantial parallelism and the rivet peened over to complete theassembly of the hanger. When the walls 65 and 87 are forced together theflange or lock wall 85 prevents the walls from being forced beyond acondition of parallelism.

In threading the cord into the pulley frame and around the pulley, it isimportant for rapid assembly operation that the lock dog be maintainedin its proper position out of interference with the cord. If the lockdog swings counterclockwise as viewed in FIG. 8 to an extreme upwardposition against the pulley, the assembler will be required to take anemra step to shake the lock dog down into the proper position. Also, asthe cord is being threaded through the frame the threading operationwill be greatly impeded by the cord snagging on the teeth of the lockdog. To obviate these obstacles to rapid assembly, two structuralmeasures are taken. First, the dimple 89 is provided in flange 85. Thedimple 89 assures the maintainence of the lock dog in the proper lowerposition. Second, the lock dog ear 81 projects outside of the pulleyframe so that it is actuable by the assembler. By manipulating the ear81 with this thumb the assembler can swing the lock dog to a rearwardposition and hold it in that position until the cord threading operationis completed.

In operation the home owner will normally purchase a. completelyassembled slat blind having the pulley hangers properly inserted betweenthe headbar 15 and the adjacent slat 14 with the cord ends wrapped aboutthe hanger plates 30 and 60. As indicated above, the cord ends arequickly assembled in this position by knotting the ends as at 28, andwrapping about the hanger plates in the slots 34. As appears from FIG. 4for example, when the cord is properly positioned in slots 34, the cordforms two bearing locations for the hanger against the upper surface ofthe headbar 15. Similarly, the lower surface of the headbar is engagedby the shoulder 41 or 62 of the two types of pulleys respectivel Thecombination tends to form a clamp on the headbar to prevent the twistingor toeing in of the pulleys.

The particular structure to which the slat blind is to be mounted maynot lend itself to the manufacturers positioning of the hanger pulleys.That position can easily be changed merely by removing the cord endsfrom the slots 34 withdrawing the hanger plates from between the headbarand adjacent slat and respositioning the hanger plates in the desiredlocation. Precise positioning is not required for even when in thecondition illustrated in FIG. 1, the plates are slidable an inch or soin either direction as permitted by the location of the staples 15.

After the screws are mounted in the supporting structure, the slat blindis positioned on the supporting structure by passing the keyholeapertures 31 over the heads of the screws and permitting the slat blindto drop to lodge the screw shanks in the narrow portions 33 of thekeyhole slots.

In pulling on loop 25 to raise the blind, and in releasing the dog 86and raising the cord loop 25 to lower the blind, the guiding membersdescribed above maintain the cords in proper operative orientation. Evenin the first operation, the guiding members will have kept the cords inproper orientation so that there is no requirement for readjustment ofthe cords after the blind is received from the manufacturer in order torender the slat blind operative.

The ramp 90 serves two functions in the operation of the invention. Itis seen that from FIG. 11 that the ramp 90 overlies the cord slots 92and 93. In pulling down on the cord the ramp 96 provides a smooth rampguiding the cords through the cord slots 92 and 93 thereby preventingfraying of the cord. Further, from time to time, a person will lift therolled bundle of blind slats removing the tension from the cord loop 24.Under this condition there may be greater weight on cord loop 25 whichwould tend to free the lock dog from its engagement with the cord sothat when the bundle is released the blind would go plunging to thefloor. The ramp 99 tends to urge the cord toward the lock dog under suchconditions and eliminates the possibility of inadvertent release of thelock dog. Release of the lock dog can be effected, then, only when thecord is pulled by the operator.

I claim:

1. A hanger pulley comprising an upper plate, a U- shaped frame having apair of spaced vertical legs at the lower end of said plate, a doublegrooved sheave rotatably mounted in said frame to receive two runs of acord, the outer run making a turn about said sheave and the inner runmaking a 90 turn about said sheave, guide flanges projecting laterallyfrom each said vertical leg to confine said outer run to its groove anda guide flange projecting upwardly a substantial distance above saidsheave and centrally of said sheave and on the side of said sheave fromwhich the inner run leaves the top of said sheave to cooperate with saidframe in confining said inner run to its groove.

2. A hanger pulley comprising, an upper plate, a U- shaped frame havinga pair of spaced vertical legs at the lower end portion of said plate, adouble grooved sheave rotatably mounted in said frame to receive tworuns of a cord, the outer run making a 180 turn about said sheave andthe inner run making 'a 90 turn about said sheave, guide flangesprojecting laterally from each said vertical leg to confine said outerrun to its groove, the guide flanges projecting from the inner leg ofsaid frame being formed by a bracket having a downwardly and centrallyinclined surface terminating in a guide flange, said downwardly inclinedsurface urging said outer cord run onto its respective groove, and aguide flange projecting upwardly and centrally of said sheave tocooperate with said frame in confining said inner run to its groove.

3. A cord pulley hanger in combination with a slat blind porch shadehaving a head bar and an upper slat secured to the surface of said headbar, said hanger comprising a plate portion inserted between said headbar and slat, a slot on each longitudinal edge of said plate immediatelyabove said head bar, said slots receiving a cord thereby blocking saidhanger from dropping from between said head bar and upper slat.

a 4. A cord pulley hanger in combination vwith a slat blind porch shadehaving a head'bar and an upper slat secured to the surface of said headbar, said hanger comprising a plate portion inserted between said headbar and slat, a slot on each longitudinal edge of said plate immediately'above said head bar and receiving a cord to secure said hanger on saidhead bar, said slots being formed by a straight lower edge normallyparallel to said hear bar and "a U-shaped re-entrant upper edge, whereby.to facilitate application of a cord into said slot and to impedeinadvertent removal of said cord from said slot.

5. A cord pulley hanger in combination with a slat blind porch shadehaving a head bar and an upper slat secured to the surface of said headbar, said hanger comprising a plate inserted between said head bar andslat, a shoulder on said plate in engagement with the lower surface ofsaid head bar when said plate is inserted in operable position, a sloton each longitudinal edge of said plate immediately above said head bar,said slots snugly receiving a cord thereby confining said head barbetween said cord and hanger.

6. In a slat blind porch shade having a head bar and 7 S an'upper slatsecured to the surface of said head 'bar inserted between said slat andsaid head bar, a hanger pulley comprising an upper plate, a U-shapedframe having a pair of spaced vertical legs at the lower end of saidplate, a double grooved sheave rotatably' mounted in said frame toreceive two runs of a cord, the outer run making a 180 turn about saidsheave and the inner run making a turn about said sheave, guide flangesprojecting laterally from each said vertical'leg to confine said outerrun to its groove and a guide flange projecting upwardly a substantialdistance above said sheave and terminating adjacent said head bar, saidflange being 7 located centrally of said sheave and on the side of saidsheave from which the inner run leaves the top of said 'References Citedin the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS La Ganke July 9, 19402,246,229 Wohlmuth June 17, 1941 2,631,661 Nelson Mar. 17, 1953

1. A HANGER PULLEY COMPRISING AN UPPER PLATE, A USHAPED FRAME HAVING APAIR OF SPACED VERTICAL LEGS AT THE LOWER END OF SAID PLATE, A DOUBLEGROOVED SHEAVE ROTATABLY MOUNTED IN SAID FRAME TO RECEIVE TWO RUNS OF ACORD, THE OUTER RUN MAKING A 180* TURN ABOUT SAID SHEAVE AND THE INNERRUN MAKING A 90* TURN ABOUT SAID SHEAVE GUIDE FLANGES PROJECTINGLATERALLY FROM EACH SAID VERTICAL LEG TO CONFINE SAID OUTER RUN TO ITSGROOVE AND A GUIDE FLANGE PROJECTING UPWARDLY A SUBSTANTIAL DISTANCEABOVE SAID SHEAVE AND CENTRALLY OF SAID SHEAVE AND ON THE SIDE OF SAIDSHEAVE FROM WHICH THE INNER RUNS LEAVES THE TOP OF SAID SHEAVE TOCOOPERATE WITH SAID FRAME IN CONFINING SAID INNER RUN TO ITS GROOVE.